Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA

Tiger Woods walks behind his caddie Steve Williams during his third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.

Woods gave himself realistic birdie chances on every hole and rarely had to work for par. An 8-iron stopped 8 feet away on No. 3 for birdie, and he followed that with a 3-iron into 20 feet on the par-5 fourth and a chance at eagle. He dropped his putter and placed his hands on his knees when it broke in front of the cup, something Woods got used to seeing.

He had putts inside 15 feet on the fifth and seventh that he barely touched because they were above the hole, longer putts on the eighth and ninth that tickled the edge of the cup.

Most impressive of all was his control, hitting every green in regulation until the final hole.

“If he’d putted like I did, he’d have shot 6 under,” said first-round leader Nick Dougherty, who played with Woods and shot 74. “Tee to green, he’s just awesome. It’s going to take something pretty special to beat him tomorrow. If he plays like that tomorrow, nobody’s going to beat him.”

But just like Saturday at the Masters, Woods didn’t quite finish it off.

He was atop the leaderboard at Augusta National until a bogey-bogey finish put him one shot behind Appleby going into the final round.

This time, Woods drove the green on the par-4 17th, but it skidded through and into rough so deep that the best he could do was leave himself about 25 feet for birdie, and he had to make a 5-footer for par. Woods saved his worst tee shot for the end, into a deep bunker right of the fairway with no shot at reaching the green. His third was long, about 15 feet above the hole, and it again grazed the edge.

By then, Baddeley had run off a pair of birdies to get to 1 over. The Australian gave back two shots in the final hour, but he still managed to keep his nose in front and then gave himself a small cushion with the 15-foot birdie on the last hole.

Still, a dozen players were separated by five shots going into the final round on a course that is tough even when the USGA wants it to play slightly easier.

“This golf course doesn’t lend itself to too many birdies,” Ames said. “So the guy who makes the least mistakes will be the guy to win.”